Method of forming piles



June 4, 1935. H. E. SATRE METHOD OF FORMING FILES lizuezzlvr flaw/5M0Flled Feb. 29, 1932 fag.

Patented June 4, 1935 UNITED STATES 2,003,393 METHOD OF FORMING PILESHilmar E. Satre, Chicago, 111., assignor, by mesne assignments, toSpencer, White & Prentis, Incorporated, NewYork', N. Y., a corporationof Connecticut Application February 29, 1932 Serial No. 595,755

6 Claims.

This invention relates to theboring and lining or casing of holes andalso to the filling of such holes with concrete or other material, andwhile itis particularly related to the formation of 5 caissons, it willbe readily apparent that from 1 various aspects it has valuableapplication to the boring and/or filling of holes for other purposes.

A principalobject of the invention is the provision of animprovedprocess for mechanically boring and lining holes of considerabledepth and -of large diameter,- which will effect substantial savingsboth in labor and in material.

Caissons such as are usually provided to extend through soft ground to afirm anchorage "below'to support great weight, such as a tall building,have been usually constructed in the past by lining'the' the-liningofthe casing being constructed at each newlydug zone by workmen working inthe hole itself; each section once positioned has'remained in place andas the digging progresses new sections have been constructed or erectedtherebe- "neath Moreover,

vious practices, the casing-sections, (i. e. the entire casing), havebeen left in place to provide a form for the pouring of the concrete orother filling material. Ordinarily such constructions have beenconstructed of wood, which manifestly adds nothing to the supportingstrength of the casing, and in any event rots away in a rela-' tivelyshort time. Accordingly, caisson holes thus "lined have of necessitybeen of enlarged diameter to provide holding columns of the requiredstrength.

This invention has for one" of its important objects the provision of aprocess which will permit of the filling of theentire excavated holewith the concrete, to the end that a hole of minimum diameter may be dugto provide a concretecaisson column of specified final dimension.

Anotherimportant object of the invention is the-provision of a processwhich may be-practicedto entirely dig, case'and fillthe hole withoutneed of the workmen descending into it. v

In connection with the preceding purposes of the invention, it may bementioned that manual operations of the workmen'in the-holes areattended by a number of most serious dangers. One of these is from gasof poisonous, or atleast noxious character, whichis not infrequentlylib-' erated in the digging of thelioles, and there is always also'thedanger of thecaving-in of the earth' before the casing can beconstructed at a i new zone provided by theextension of thehole.

P Another-important 'objectof theinvention is caisson holes as they aredug,

in accordance with usual prethe provision of a process which willpermitof the,

production of the final caisson without leaving the casing in the holesothat when the caisson is completed the casing used is available inundamaged condition for employment in the construction'of a succeedingcaisson.

Another important object of the invention is the provision'of a processwhich will permit of the progressive constructionof thecasing as-thedigging progresses, and without the need'of with-.

drawing the digging elements from the hole where the hole is being dugby a machine. In this connection my invention contemplatesthe employmentof the machine of my pending application for United States patent,Serial N0.

517,845, filed February 24th, 1931. This machine accomplishes thedigging through the active agency of a rotating combined excavating'andreceiving element, which in its rotation bores'the hole, taking up thematerialfor subsequent dis-a charge above the ground level. An augershaft extends through the excavating and receiving element andperiodically the'element isslid up the shaft to a discharge-position;The shaft remains in the ground as a fixed guide and my invention hasfor one of its purposes the provision I of a process for lining orcasing the hole without requiring the removal of the shaft from itsuperative position.

Numerous other objects and advantages "o'f theiigo invention will beapparent as itis better understood from the following description,which, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawing,illustrates typically a preferred practice of the invention. r 7

Referring to the drawing,

Figure l'is a schematicsectionshowing portions' of a boring machine inoperative position and thehole lined or cased close tothe planeor zoneof digging;

Fig. 2 is a similar partial view showingthe withdrawing of theexcavating element and continuation of the lining of the hole;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2, illustrating the steps in theprocess of filling the hole;

Fig. 4 is a transverse 'ing the withdrawal or retraction of the sideoutters of the excavating element;

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of easing sections; and

Fig. 6 is a similar'view of the lower or leader casing section adaptedwho employed in the practice of the present invention.

Figs. 1, 2 and 4 of the drawing illustrate'the one of the uppersectional view illustrat standing of the present invention. Generallythe machine comprises a vertical shaft H with a .leader or pilot bit I2at its lower end to extend down beneath the floor of the hole as it isdug and to guide and advance the shaft as may be required. A combinedexcavating and receiving element or bucket, generally indicated at I3,is arranged upon this shaft in splined connection I4 with it so thatrotation of the shaft causes rotation of the excavating element. Theexcavating element is provided with cutters 15 which cut the floor ofthe hole and scoop the material dug up into the bucket where it isprogressively received until a full charge is accumulated. Theexcavating and receiving element I3 is adapted to slide lengthwise ofthe shaft and to be pulled up to a position above the ground by cables16 suitably trained over hoisting elements (not shown) to lift theexcavating element for discharge of the dirt through a discharge doorl1.

vSide cutters l8 are arranged at the lower end of the excavating elementand these are pivoted at I9 tobe swung out into the cutting position(shown in Fig. 1 and in dotted lines in Fig. 4) when the bucket turns ina counterclockwise direction (viewing the last mentioned figure). When,however, the excavating element is rotated slightly in the oppositedirection, the side cutters are retracted to the full line positionshown in Fig. 4 in order that the element with its charge of dirt maymove up through the casing.

As the digging progresses the hole is cased or lined in accordance withmy invention by first inserting a leader casing section at the top, andthereafter superimposing successive casing sections, moving thepreceding section or sections downwardly through the hole so that theleader section is always disposed close to the floor of the hole. Theleader section is, or may be, constructed of a continuous circular shell2 I,

top at 22 to provide a shouldered recess 23, in

which a lower edge of the next succeeding section may rest. The leadersection 2| is provided with clamps 24 at opposite sides, in which arefastened the lower ends of cables 25. These cables extend up to abovethe ground surface and serve to support the casing during the digging,and for other purposes which will be later more fully explained. Theleader section is placed about the intended center of the hole beforethe digging is begun and follows the floor of the hole on down until thehole is completely dug.

Each of the upper casing sections (indicated by reference character 26and typically illustrated in Fig. 5) consists of two parts adapted to beseparated or secured together by hooks 21. Thus constructed each uppercasing section may be wrapped about, or caused to encircle the shaft Hwithout removing the shaft from the ground or disconnecting it from itspower mechanism. Each upper section 26 may be positioned by merelyseparating the sections at one or both sides, bringing the sections thento the desired position and rehooking them so that the lower edge 28 mayrest upon the subposed section. Each upper section 26 is offset at thetop at 29 to provide a shouldered recess 3|, similar to the shoulderedrecess 23 of the leader section 2|. Thus arranged each section above thesection 2| rests at its bottom edge upon the shouldered recess 23 sothat the entire casing is supported by the cables 25.

In the digging of the hole it is desirablethat V with concrete or othermaterial.

substance to prevent offset near its.

the casing be always disposed as closely as possible to the floor of thehole, and in Fig. 1 it is shown as arranged just above the side cuttersl8. When the cutters are retracted, preliminarily to the raising of theexcavating element to deposit a charge of earth, the casing may be moveddown into contact with the floor as shown in Fig. 2.

My invention contemplates the removal of the casing as an incident tothe filling of the hole This is accomplished by the progressive upwardlifting of the casing and the successive removal of its sections asconcrete is poured in to provide the caisson body. The concrete hassufficient strength and cave-in of the side walls of the hole, andpreferably the removal of the sections'is accomplished in such manner asto maintain the bottom of the casing at all times filled with concrete.This is, however, merely preferred and is not necessary, particularly incertain types of soil. A charge of concrete is poured through the easinginto the hole, the casing raised correspondingly as the depth ofconcrete body increases. The removing of the casing is accomplishedwhile the concrete is soft and the concrete flows out beneath the lowercasing edge into firm engagement with the side walls. As the lifting ofthe casing disposes successive sections-at above the ground line theyare independently removed and the process continued. I It is thoughtthat the invention and many of its attendant advantages will beunderstood from the foregoing description and it will be apparent thatvarious changes may be made in the steps and their order ofaccomplishment of the process described without departing from thespirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its materialadvantages, the process hereinbefore described being merely a preferredembodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. The process of boring holes in the ground and lining the same, whichcomprises digging the hole and inserting casing sections in the hole asthe hole is deepened in superposed unattached relation and with theinsertion of each section lowering previouslyinserted sections, andcontrolling from above the ground the downward movement of said sectionsby operation upon the lowermost only of mid sections.

2. The process of boring and filling a hole, which comprises excavatingthe hole, lining the same by successively superposing unattachedsections of casing and moving previously added sections downwardly asthe hole is deepened. filling the hole through the lining, and liftingthe casing by force applied from below as the hole is filled.

3. The process of forming a caisson hole in the ground which comprisesprogressively cutting the earth with a hollow rotary auger, divert ingthe loosened earth into the auger, withdrawing the cutting elements intothe body of the auger to reduce its effective diameter, periodicallylifting the auger to discharge its load of earth, guiding the auger inline with the axis of the hole both during its descent and ascent, andprogressively lowering a lining into the hole about the space occupiedby the auger.

4. The process of forming a caisson which comprises progressivelycutting the earth with a hollow rotary auger, diverting the loosenedearth into the auger, withdrawing the cutting elements towards thecenter of the auger to reduce its effective diameter, periodicallylifting the auger to discharge its load of earth, guiding the auger inline with the axis of the hole both during its descent and ascent,progressively lowering a lining into the hole about the space occupiedby the auger, thereafter removing the auger and guiding device andpouring concrete into the lining, and progressively removing the liningupwardly by force applied from below as the concrete settles into thehole below the casing.

5. The method of forming piling and the like, which comprisesprogressively forming a hole in the earth, maintaining a cutting shaftin said hole, inserting a primary supporting casing in said hole,progressively lowering said primary supporting casing so as to maintainthe same in position adjacent the lower portion of said hole, attachingsplit secondary casings about said shaft without removing the latterfrom said hole, positioning said secondary casings in unattachedsuperimposed and supported relation with respect to said primarysupporting casing, withdrawing said cutting shaft from said hole,pouring a plastic pile forming material into said hole and within saidcasings, withdrawing said prmary supporting casing from said holeprogressively with the filling of the latter with said material,

whereby to remove all of said casings from said hole, and separatingsaid casings when emerging from said hole.

6. The method of forming piling and thelike, which comprisesprogressively cutting a hole in the earth, maintaining a cutting shaftin said hole, inserting a primary supporting casing in said hole,controlling the position of said primary casing from the outside portionthereof and iromthe top of said hole, whereby to maintain said primarycasing in position adjacent the lower portion of said hole, attachingsplit secondary casings about said shaft without removing the latterfrom said hole, positioning said secondary casings in unattachedsuperimposed and supported relation with respect to said primarysupporting casing, withdrawing said cutting shaft from said hole whenthe hole is complete, pouring a plastic pile forming medium in said holeand within. said casing, withdrawing said primary casing from said holeprogressively with the filling of the latter with said material wherebyto remove all of said casings from said hole, and separating saidcasings when emerging from said hole.

HILMAR E. SATRE.

